Bert Brown
Eisenhower in the middle

Eisenhower had special guards during Rundstedts Ardennes push

During the Ardennes offensive last December special measures were taken to protect Eisenhower, Montgomery, Bradley, Tedder and other high Allied officers. Their personal guards were reinforced: access to their headquarters became extremely difficult.

What lay behind these measures? Were the Germans plotting to kill Eisenhower as once the British had plotted to kill Rommel?

Col, Sheen, chief of Counter Intelligence at Shaef, gave us the answers to these questions to-day, and, in doing so, lifted the veil on the activities of Otto (Scarface) Skorzeny, head of the sabotage and special operations section of the German Secret Service, who was caught by the Seventh Army the other day.

Vienna-born, 37 - year - old Skorzeny joined the S.S. and, thanks to his powerful physique and aggressive personality, soon made his mark in Hitler’s black uniformed army of thugs.

In September, 1943, he leaped into the limelight with his dramatic rescue of the captive Duce,

When Rundstedt planned his Ardennes offensive a special task was assigned to Skorzeny and his men.

Disguised in American uniforms and using captured American vehicles, they were to penetrate our lines and by all sorts of sabotage create confusion in our rear.

Skorzeny combed the Wehrmacht for men who spoke English with an American accent. After an exhaustive test of their linguistic ability at Skorzeny's headquarters at Schloss Friedenthal, Oranien¬ burg, near Berlin, 150 officers and men were chosen.

These men were then pul through an intensive course of training. They brushed up their American slang, were taught the customs and courtesies of the American Army, practised American mannerisms— for example, the peculiar American method of opening a packet of cigarettes. To round off their training, they were disguised as American prisoners of war and put into prison camps, where they observed American habits and perfected the accent.

By mid-December all was ready. Skorzeny's band of linguists had been fitted out in American uniforms, given fake American creden¬ tials and supplied with American jeeps.